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This paper studies the impact of the banks’ portfolio holdings of financial derivatives on the banks’ individual contribution to systemic risk over and above the effect of variables related to size, interconnectedness, substitutability, and other balance sheet information. Using a sample of 95 U.S. bank holding companies from 2002 to 2011, we compare five measures of the banks’ contribution to systemic risk and find that the new measure proposed in this study, Net Shapley Value, outperforms the others. Using this measure we find that banks’ aggregate holdings of five classes of derivatives do not exhibit a significant effect on the bank’s contribution to systemic risk. On the contrary, the banks’ holdings of certain specific types of derivatives such as foreign exchange and credit derivatives increase the banks contributions to systemic risk whereas holdings of interest rate derivatives decrease it. Nevertheless, the proportion of non-performing loans over total loans and the leverage ratio have much stronger impact on systemic risk than derivatives holdings. Therefore, the derivatives’ impact plays a second fiddle in comparison with traditional banking activities related to the former two items.

We study time-zero efficiency of electricity derivatives markets. By time-zero efficiency is meant a sequence of prices of derivatives contracts having the same underlying asset but different times to maturity which implies that prices comply with a set of efficiency conditions that prevent profitable time-zero arbitrage opportunities. We investigate whether statistical tests, based on the law of one price, and trading rules, based on price differentials and no-arbitrage violations, are useful for assessing time-zero efficiency. We apply tests and trading rules to daily data of three European power markets: Germany, France and Spain. In the case of the German market, after considering liquidity availability and transaction costs, results are not inconsistent with time-zero efficiency. However, in the case of the French and Spanish markets, limitations in liquidity and representativeness are challenges that prevent definite conclusions. Liquidity in French and Spanish markets should improve by using pricing and marketing incentives. These incentives should attract more participants into the electricity derivatives exchanges and should encourage them to settle OTC trades in clearinghouses. Publication of statistics on prices, volumes and open interest per type of participant should be promoted.

This paper compares the in-sample and out-of-sample performance of several models for computing the tail risk of one-month and one-year electricity futures contracts traded in the NordPool, French, German, and Spanish markets in 2008–2017. As measures of tail risk, we use the one-day-ahead Value-at-Risk (VaR) and the Expected Shortfall (ES). With VaR, the AR (1)-GARCH (1,1) model with Student-t distribution is the best-performing specification with 88% cases in which the Fisher test accepts the model, with a success rate of 94% in the left tail and of 81% in the right tail. The model passes the test of model adequacy in the 100% of the cases in the NordPool and German markets, but only in the 88% and 63% of the cases in the Spanish and French markets. With ES, this model passes the test of model adequacy in 100% of cases in all markets. Historical Simulation and Quantile Regression-based approaches misestimate tail risks. The right-hand tail of the returns is more difficult to model than the left-hand tail and therefore financial regulators and the administrators of futures markets should take these results into account when setting additional regulatory capital requirements and margin account regulations to short positions. We acknowledge financial support from FUNCAS, through grant PRELEC2020–2017/00085/00, from DGICYT, through grant ECO2016–77807-P, and from CAM, through grant EARLYFIN-CM, #S2015/HUM-3353

The redox behavior of terbium and praseodymium doped yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is studied. The aim is to identify spectroscopic probes and a suitable experimental procedure to monitor the oxygen activity in YSZ electrolytes in solid oxide cells with spatial resolution and at operation conditions (e.g. at high temperatures). Sintered ceramics and crystals with 0.3 to 10 at% content of Pr or Tb ions in YSZ were prepared. Upon equilibration in atmospheres from 10−20 to 100 bar PO2around 800 °C, the majority of these rare earth ions are in the 3 + oxidation state. At oxygen pressures above 0.001 bar, the small proportion of Tb4+ and Pr4+ formed give rise to intense optical absorption around 300–500 nm and to decreased reflectance. From the reflectance measurements it is shown that the Tb4+ concentration increases as PO21/4, as correspond to the trapping of the holes generated upon the oxygen incorporation as Tb4+. This competitive absorption causes a decrease of the Tb3+ luminescence. A quantitative relationship of the Tb3+ luminescence intensity with PO2 at 800 °C has been found, which is compatible with the trapping model. The spatial resolution of the experimental procedure could be very roughly estimated of the order of 100 μm., This work was financially supported by grant RTI2018-098944-J-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe" and Grant RYC2018–025553-I funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by "ESF Investing in your future." The Departamento de Ciencia, Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento del Gobierno de Aragón is also acknowledged for the financial support to the Research Group T02 20 R. Adrián Robles-Fernández thanks for the grant BES-2016–078508 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by "ESF Investing in your future."

The presence of different prices in different databases for the same securities can impair the comparability of research efforts and seriously damage the management decisions based upon such research. In this study we compare the six major sources of corporate Credit Default Swap prices: GFI, Fenics, Reuters EOD, CMA, Markit and JP Morgan, using the most liquid single name 5-year CDS of the components of the leading market indexes, iTraxx (European firms) and CDX (US firms) for the period from 2004 to 2010. We find systematic differences between the data sets implying that deviations from the common trend among prices in the different databases are not purely random but are explained by idiosyncratic factors as well as liquidity, global risk and other trading factors. The lower is the amount of transaction prices available the higher is the deviation among databases. Our results suggest that the CMA database quotes lead the price discovery process in comparison with the quotes provided by other databases. Several robustness tests confirm these results.

This paper studies premiums got by winning bidders in default supply auctions, and speculation and hedging activities in power derivatives markets in dates near auctions. Data includes fifty-six auction prices from 2007 to 2013, those of CESUR in the Spanish OMEL electricity market, and those of Basic Generation Service auctions (PJM-BGS) in New Jersey's PJM market. Winning bidders got an average ex-post yearly forward premium of 7% (CESUR) and 38% (PJM-BGS). The premium using an index of futures prices is 1.08% (CESUR) and 24% (PJM-BGS). Ex-post forward premium is negatively related to the number of bidders and spot price volatility. In CESUR, hedging-driven trading in power derivatives markets predominates around auction dates, but in PJM-BGS, speculation-driven trading prevails. The policy recommendation to market regulators and administrators is that they should gauge consumers’ price risk aversion before introducing alternative methods to default supply auctions for the computation of the part of cost of energy of the electricity bill of customers whose contracted capacity is small and are not served by other suppliers.

El Didymosphenia Geminata, desde su aparición en Chile en el año 2010, específicamente en la zona de Futaleufú, es monitoreado por SUBPESCA a través de su Fondo de Investigación Pesquero y Acuicultura (Fipa), de este modo capacita y difunde sobre los efectos de la propagación de la microalga Didymo, la que está presente en Chile entre las regiones del Biobío y Magallanes. La plaga ha sido foco de vigilancia, detección y control, junto a campañas de comunicación y publicidad social por parte de SERNAPESCA y organismos privados de consultoría. El Didymo es una alga que habita en aguas frías continentales, prospera en una amplia gama de condiciones hidráulicas (Kilroy et al. 2005). La literatura científica la describe como una microalga de gran propagación y al hombre como principal vector de transmisión. Localidades de Villarrica, Pucón y Panguipulli, son zonas declaradas con la plaga Didymo en sus ríos. En este escenario, se elaboró un estudio etnográfico a través de la observación en las localidades mencionadas.

We examine whether the source of debt financing is important for assessments of firms' default risk. This study reveals that during the 2007–2010 financial crisis, firms that depend mainly on financing from banks suffer higher increases in default risk than do firms with no such dependence. Conversely, firms that rely solely on financing from public debt markets do not experience significant increases in default risk. These findings suggest that the bank supply shock theory explains the transmission of financial shocks to the real economy. Finally, firms that depend on bank financing cannot offset the adverse impacts of bank lending shocks by substituting bank loans with publicly traded debt.

We study the effect of rollover risk on the risk of default using a comprehensive database of U.S. industrial firms during 1986–2013. Dependence on bank financing is the key driver of the impact of rollover risk on default risk. Default risk and rollover risk present a significant positive relation in firms dependent on bank financing. In contrast, rollover risk is uncorrelated with default probability in the case of firms that do not rely on bank financing. Our measure of rollover risk is the amount of long-term debt maturing in one year, weighted by total assets. In the case of a firm that depends on bank financing, an increase of one standard deviation in this measure leads to a significant increase of 3.2% in its default probability within one year. Other drivers affecting the interaction between rollover risk and default risk are whether a firm suffers from declining profitability and has poor credit. Additionally, rollover risk's impact on default probability is stronger during periods when credit market conditions are tighter.

[ES]: Los materiales cerámicos se están empleando, cada vez en mayor medida, en aplicaciones biomédicas debido a que son capaces de generar una osteointegración completa en el cuerpo humano. Esto se produce debido a que en contacto con sistemas fisiológicos estos materiales experimentan ciertas transformaciones que facilitan la formación de hueso nuevo alrededor del implante cerámico. En este trabajo se pretende llevar a cabo un estudio de bioactividad de un material del sistema P2O5-CaO-SiO2-MgO, para ello se generaron muestras densas de dicho material por fusión zonal por láser (LFZ) y se llevó a cabo el estudio microestructral del mismo, antes y después de llevar a cabo el ensayo de bioactividad, tanto de materiales vítreos como cristalinos. Partiendo del material en polvo hemos generado cilindros cerámicos por prensado isostático en frío y después de llevar a cabo la sinterización de los cilindros conformados, generamos barras densas mediante la técnica de LFZ. Con el objetivo de controlar la microestructura de las muestras, se lleva a cabo un barrido de la velocidad de crecimiento, siendo capaces de elegir entre una estructura cristalina o vítrea. Las muestras obtenidas son bioactivas en contacto con suero fisiológico artificial ya que son capaces de generar una capa de hidroxiapatita en la superficie del material, cuya función es promover la unión hueso-implante y la regeneración del tejido dañado., [EN]: Ceramic materials are increasingly used in biomedical applications due to their ability to produce complete osseointegration in the human body. This is possible because, in contact with physiological systems, these materials undergo certain transformations that facilitate the formation of new bone around the ceramic implant. In this research is intended the bioactivity study of a material of the P2O5-CaO-SiO2-MgO system. For this reason the preparation, by zonal fusion by laser, the microstructural characterization and the study of the in vitro response of a material, both vitreous and crystalline, are proposed. Starting from the powdered material we have generated ceramic rods by cold isostatic pressing. After the sintering process of the rods at 1200˚C, we have achieved dense bars by laser floating zone technique (LFZ). An exploration of experimental conditions was performed, being able to obtain both, vitreous and crystalline structure. Samples obtained are bioactive in contact with simulated body fluid because they are able of generate an hydroxyapatite layer on the surface of the material whose function is to promote the union of the implant to the bone and the regeneration of damaged tissue.

ResumenObjetivosRevisar de manera sistemática el schwannoma localizado en el suelo oral. Presentar un caso tratado en nuestro departamento.Material y métodoMediante la utilización de motores de búsqueda se identificaron artículos sobre schwannoma localizado en el suelo oral. Los criterios de inclusión fueron: a) diagnóstico definitivo de schwannoma localizado en el suelo oral; b) casos publicados en inglés, español o alemán. Se analizaron variables relacionadas con las características clínicas, diagnósticas y de tratamiento.ResultadosSe identificaron 19 artículos que cumplían los criterios de inclusión. Edad media: 44,3 años (rango 17-77); 42,1% mujeres y 57,8% hombres; tiempo de evolución de 8,7 meses (rango 1-60); tumoración localizada en el lado izquierdo del suelo oral 52,6%, en el lado derecho 42,1%; diámetro mayor medio 38,3mm (rango 10-70); afectación del nervio hipogloso 15,7%, nervio lingual 15,7%, nervio milohioideo 5,2%, no se identificó nervio de origen en el 21,1% de los casos; punción aspiración con aguja fina no diagnóstica en el 31,5% e identificación de tumoración benigna en el 21%. La exéresis quirúrgica se realizó en el 100% de los casos con un tiempo de seguimiento de 34,3 meses (rango 1-120). No se documentaron recurrencias.ConclusionesLos schwannomas localizados en el suelo de la boca son infrecuentes. Se presentan en torno a los 40 años, con leve predominancia por el sexo masculino y del lado izquierdo del suelo oral. El tiempo de evolución se encuentra próximo a los 9 meses. Usualmente asintomático. Los nervios hipogloso y lingual se afectan por igual. En proporción similar, el nervio de origen no puede ser identificado. La punción aspiración con aguja fina no es efectiva. El tratamiento de elección consiste en la enucleación del tumor una vez diagnosticado. No se documentaron recidivas.AbstractObjectiveSystematically review the oral floor schwannoma. Report of a case treated in our department.Material and methodPublished articles about oral floor schwannoma were identified. The inclusion criteria were: a) Final diagnosis of schwannoma located in the oral floor. b) Articles published in English, Spanish or German. The variables were analysed regarding clinical features, diagnosis and treatment.ResultsNineteen articles that met the inclusion criteria. Average age: 44.3 years (range 17-77); 42.1% were females and 57.8% males; time of lesion development was 8.7 months (range 1-60); side of the oral floor location: left side 52.6%, right side 42.1%; average diameter: 38.3mm (range 10-70); hypoglossal nerve involvement: 15.7%, lingual nerve: 15.7%, mylohyoid nerve: 5.2%, nerve not identified in 21.1% of cases; fine needle aspiration biopsy: non diagnostic in 31.5%, benign tumor identified 21%. Surgical excision was performed in 100% of the cases with a follow up of 34.3 months (rank 1-120). No recurrences were reported.ConclusionsSchwannomas located on the floor of the mouth are uncommon. Environment are presented at age 40 with a slight predominance for males and mainly the left. The time evolution is close to 9 months. The hypoglossal and lingual nerves are affected equally. In similar proportion the nerve of origin cannot be identified. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is not efficient. The treatment of choice is enucleation of the tumor 11 diagnosed. No recurrences were observed.

We measure how warnings of expropriation and forced divestments of private property affect the stock prices of parent companies. We use a unique database of 116 events in 12 countries from 2005 to 2013. Our results show that different types of warnings have significant negative effects on stock prices, and the largest effect is from a warning that takes the form of a transitory permit revocation. In the case of forced divestments, we find a significant negative impact when a permit is permanently revoked. However, nationalizations are associated with a positive market reaction.

We present a limits-to-arbitrage model to study the impact of securitization, leverage and credit risk protection on the cyclicity of bank credit. In a stable bank credit situation, no cycles of credit expansion or contraction appear. Unlevered securitization together with mis-pricing of securitized assets increases lending cyclicality, favoring credit booms and busts. Leverage changes the state of affairs with respect to the simple securitization. First, the volume of real activity and banking profits increases. Second, banks sell securities when markets decline. This selling puts further pressure on falling prices. The mis-pricing of credit risk protection or securitized assets influences the real economy. Trading in these contracts reduces the amount of funding available to entrepreneurs, particularly to high-credit-risk borrowers. This trading decreases the liquidity of the securitized assets, and especially those based on investments with high credit risk., Comment: 33 pages

This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Materials: Surfaces, Interfaces and Bioapplications., A nanosecond green laser was employed to obtain both superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces on a white commercial acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS). These wetting behaviors were directly related to a laser-induced superficial modification. A predefined pattern was not produced by the laser, rather, the entire surface was covered with laser pulses at 1200 DPI by placing the sample at different positions along the focal axis. The changes were related to the laser fluence used in each case. The highest fluence, on the focal position, induced a drastic heating of the material surface, and this enabled the melted material to flow, thus leading to an almost flat superhydrophilic surface. By contrast, the use of a lower fluence by placing the sample 0.8 µm out of the focal position led to a poor material flow and a fast cooling that froze in a rugged superhydrophobic surface. Contact angles higher than 150° and roll angles of less than 10° were obtained. These wetting behaviors were stable over time., The authors wish to thank BSH Electrodomésticos España S.A. for their financial support for this research.

We present a new model for pricing electricity swaps. Two general factors affect contracts but unique risk elements affect each contract. General factors are average swap prices and deterministic trend-seasonal components, and unique elements are forward premiums. Innovations follow MNIG distributions. We estimate the model with data from the European Energy Exchange. The model outperforms four competitors, both in in-sample valuation and in out-of-sample forecasting, and in fitting the term structure of volatilities by market segments. Competitor models are (i) diffusion spot prices, (ii) jump-diffusion spot prices with time dependent volatility, (iii) HJM-based and (iv) Levy multifactor model with NIG distributions. Value-at-Risk measures based on normality strongly underestimate tail risk but our model gives estimates that are more exact. Juan Ignacio Peña and Rosa Rodriguez acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness, respectively, through grants ECO2012-35023, ECO2016-77807-P, and ECO2012-36559

We model systemic risk using a common factor that accounts for market-wide shocks and a tail dependence factor that accounts for linkages among extreme stock returns. Specifically, our theoretical model allows for firm-specific impacts of infrequent and extreme events. Using data on the four sectors of the US financial industry from 1996 to 2011, we uncover two key empirical findings. First, disregarding the effect of the tail dependence factor leads to a downward bias in the measurement of systemic risk, especially during weak economic times. Second, when these measures serve as leading indicators of the St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index, measures that include a tail dependence factor offer better forecasting ability than measures based on a common factor only.

We build a Real Options model to assess the importance of private provision and the impact of expropriation risk on investment timing, business values, governmental costs and social welfare. We consider two types of businesses (essential and non-essential) and two stages (operating businesses and investment opportunities) and answer questions regarding three main topics: the firm's reaction to expropriation risk, the government drivers to expropriate, and the welfare costs of expropriation. Our results show that responding to expropriation risk the private investor is driven to suboptimal investment decisions. When we endogenize the reputational costs of expropriation, our results show that the decision of the government to expropriate largely depends on the type of business being targeted. In terms of welfare, our results show that expropriation is always associated with a loss.

A set of coupled Brownian motors—resulting from a noise-induced phase transition generated through an entropic mechanism, and formerly studied in mean-field approximation—is numerically integrated by Heun’s method. The results add much insight to the mean-field ones, allowing interpretation of the underlying mechanisms. It turns out that the low-noise boundary of the ordered phase obtained in mean-field approximation lies near a region where the order parameter is negative. Hints of bistability and negative mobility around F = 0 are seen in two cases, and anomalous hysteresis is confirmed in one case., Support by CSIC, UC and UIB of Spain, and CONICET and UNMdP of Argentina, is acknowledged.

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of level IIb metastasis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Material and Methods A prospective analysis of 56 patients with OSCC who underwent surgical treatment of the primary lesion with simultaneous neck dissection was performed. During neck dissection, level IIb lymph nodes were separately removed and processed. Neck dissection was bilateral in 26 patients (46%) and unilateral in 30 patients (54%). Results The mean number of nodes found in the level IIb specimens was 4.7 (range: 0-8 nodes). The prevalence of metastasis at level IIb was 0% in pN0 necks and 3.4% in pN+ necks, with an overall prevalence of 1.8%. A significant association between metastasis to level IIb and type of neck dissection was observed. There were no isolated metastases to level IIb without the involvement of other nodes in the remaining neck specimen. Four regional recurrences were observed during follow-up. Conclusions Based on our findings, we suggest that dissection of the level IIb region in patients with OSCC may be required only in patients with multilevel neck metastasis or if level IIa metastasis is found intraoperatively. Key words: Oral squamous cell carcinoma, neck dissection, level IIb, metastasis, spinal accessory nerve.

This study presents robust empirical evidence suggesting the existence of significant liquidity commonalities in the corporate Credit Default Swap (CDS) market. Using daily data for 438 firms from 25 countries in the period 2005-2012 we find that these commonalities vary over time, being stronger in periods in which the global, counterparty, and funding liquidity risks increase. However, commonalities do not depend on firm's characteristics. The level of the liquidity commonalities differs across economic areas being on average stronger in the European Monetary Union. The effect of market liquidity is stronger than the effect of industry specific liquidity in most industries excluding the banking sector. We document the existence of asymmetries in commonalities around financial distress episodes such that the effect of market liquidity is stronger when the CDS market price increases. The results are not driven by the CDS data imputation method or by the liquidity of firms with high credit risk and are robust to alternative liquidity measures.

This paper studies statistical arbitrage opportunities in credit derivatives markets using strategies combining Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) and Asset Swap Packages (ASPs) by means of an improved statistical arbitrage test. Using four different databases (GFI, Reuters, CMA, and J.P. Morgan) from 2005 to 2009, we find persistent mispricings between the CDS and ASP spreads of individual firms, which should be priced similarly, before and during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. These mispricings are more frequent in low credit quality bonds and appear to offer arbitrage opportunities. We also aggregate the firms' CDS and ASP in a portfolio and still find persistent deviations, mainly in the lower rated bonds. In aggregate terms the deviations from the parity relation can be explained from systematic factors such as financing costs, counterparty risk, and global risk. However, after considering realistic estimations of funding and trading costs, all these mispricings are unlikely to provide profitable arbitrage opportunities. Sergio Mayordomo acknowledges financial support from PIUNA (University of Navarra) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant ECO2012-32554). Juan Ignacio Peña acknowledges financial support from MCI grant ECO2012-35023.

ResumenLa parotiditis es una enfermedad vírica aguda, caracterizada por fiebre e hinchazón dolorosa de una o más glándulas salivales, generalmente la parótida, aunque pueden afectarse las glándulas submaxilares y sublinguales. El cuadro clínico inicial es inespecífico, aunque en las primeras 24 h suelen aparecer otalgia y sensibilidad dolorosa en la parótida. Además, pueden aparecer complicaciones a nivel extraglandular, sobre todo a nivel neurológico, testicular, pancreático, articular y cardíaco. Entre estas últimas, las más frecuentes son los cambios electrocardiográficos. También está ampliamente descrita la miocarditis vírica.Presentamos una rara complicación, no descrita en la literatura, de asistolias recurrentes provocadas por la compresión del seno carotídeo, debido a la inflamación local producida por la parotiditis.AbstractMumps is an acute viral disease, characterized by fever and painful swelling of one or more salivary glands, usually the parotid, and sometimes the sublingual or submandibular glands.The initial clinical picture is non-specific, but during the first 24h there is otalgia and tenderness in the parotid gland. Apart from the involvement of the salivary glands, neurological, testicular, pancreatic, joint, or cardiac complications may occur. Among the latter, the most frequent are the electrocardiographic changes. Viral myocarditis has also been widely reported.We report a rare complication, not yet described in the literature, of recurrent asytolia produced by compression of the carotid sinus as a result of local inflammation caused by mumps.

The aim of the present study is to find an intelligent and efficient model, based on Support Vector Machines (SVM), able to predict prognosis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). A total of 34 clinical and molecular variables were studied in 69 patients suffering from an OSCC. Variables were selected by means of two methods applied in parallel (Non-concave penalty and Newton's methods). The implementation of a predictive model was performed using the SVM as a classifier algorithm. Finally, its classification ability was evaluated by discriminant analysis. Recurrence, number of recurrences, and TNM stage have been identified as the most relevant prognosis factors with both used methods. Classification rates reached 97.56% and 100% for alive and dead patients, respectively (overall classification rate of 98.55%). SVM techniques build tools able to predict with high accuracy the survival of a patient with OSCC.

In this study we compare the five major sources of corporate Credit Default Swap prices: GFI, Fenics, Reuters, CMA, and Markit, using the most liquid single name 5-year CDS of the components of the leading market indexes, iTraxx and CDX for the period from 2004 to 2010. We find systematic differences between the data sets implying that deviations from the common trend among prices in the different databases are not purely random but are explained by idiosyncratic factors as well as financial institutions financing costs, global risk, and other trading factors. The lower is the amount of transaction prices available the higher is the deviation among databases. The CMA database quotes lead the price discovery process in comparison with the quotes provided by other databases. Moreover, we find that there is not a full consistency among databases in the results of price discovery (causality) analysis between stock and CDS returns.

We analyse the extent to which prices in the sovereign credit default swap (CDS) and bond markets reflect the same information on credit risk in the context of the European Monetary Union. The empirical analysis is based on the theoretical equivalence relation that should hold between the CDS and bond spreads in a frictionless environment. We first test and find evidence in favour of the existence of persistent deviations between both spreads during the crisis but not before. Such deviations are found to be related to some market frictions, like counterparty risk, market illiquidity, and funding costs. We also find evidence suggesting that the price-discovery process is state-dependent. Specifically, the levels of counterparty and global risk, funding costs, market liquidity, volume of debt purchases by the European Central Bank in the secondary market, and the banks’ willingness to accept losses on their holdings of Greek bonds are found to be significant factors in determining which market leads price discovery.

This paper estimates and compares two groups of high-frequency market-based systemic risk measures from 2004 to 2009 using European and US data of interbank rates, stock prices and credit derivatives both at aggregate market level as well as the individual bank level. The former group of measures gauges the overall tension in the financial sector whereas second group relies on individual institution information to extract joint distress at portfolio level. We rank the measures using three criteria: i) Granger Causality tests, ii) Gonzalo and Granger metric, and iii) the correlation with an index of systemic events and policy actions. We find that the best systemic risk indicator based on aggregate market measures is the First Principal Component of a portfolio of Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads whereas the best indicator based on individual institution’s measures is the Multivariate Densities computed from CDS spreads. These results suggest that the measures based on CDSs outperform measures based on interbank rates or stock market prices. Some implications for regulators and policymakers are discussed.

Objective Previously, we reported how to obtain complete autologous oral mucosa equivalents (CAOMEs) composed of an autologous plasma scaffold and fibroblasts together with immature keratinocytes able to build an oral epithelium with a structure similar to that of the oral mucosa. In this study, we present the clinical outcomes after applying our CAOMEs as grafts. Study Design Four patients who needed a CAOME to restore a defect of oral mucosa were selected. Two of the patients suffered from ankyloglossia, and the other 2 required a restoration of the keratinized gum of the alveolar rim. To assess the outcomes, the scale designed by Ewers et al. was used. Results Clinical and functional improvements were achieved in the patients with ankyloglossia. In cases of gum restoration, the mucosa was regenerated and a prosthetic restoration with implants was achieved. Conclusions The results obtained points to the potential use of CAOME in intraoral lining.

This paper analyses the role of liquidity in the price discovery process. Specifically, we focus on the credit derivatives markets in the context of the subprime crisis. We present a theoretical price discovery model for the asset swap packages (ASPs), bond and credit default swap (CDS) markets and then we test the model with data from 2005 to 2009 on Euro-denominated non-financial firms. Our empirical results show that the ASP market clearly leads the bond market in the price discovery process in all cases, while the leadership between ASPs and CDSs is very sensitive to the appearance of the subprime crisis. Before the crisis, the CDSs market leads the ASP market, but during the crisis, the ASP market leads the CDS market. The liquidity, measured as the relative number of market participants, helps to explain these results. Publicado

Many firms choose to refinance their debt. We investigate the long run effects of this extended practice on credit ratings and credit spreads. We find that debt refinancing generates systematic rating downgrades unless a minimum firm value growth is observed. Deviations from this growth path imply asymmetric results. A lower firm value growth generates downgrades and a higher firm value growth generates upgrades, as expected. However, downgrades tend to be higher in absolute terms. We also find that the inverse relation between credit spreads and risk free rate that structural models usually predict still holds in this setting, but only in the short run. This negative relation will turn to be null in the medium run and positive in the long run.

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between stock market implied credit spreads, CDS spreads, and bond spreads. A general VECM representation is proposed for changes in the three credit spread measures which accounts for zero, one, or two independent cointegration equations, depending on the evidence provided by any particular company. Empirical analysis on price discovery, based on a proprietary sample of North American and European firms, and tailored to the specific VECM at hand, indicates that stocks lead CDS and bonds more frequently than the other way round. It likewise confirms the leading role of CDS with respect to bonds. Publicado

11 pages.-- En: 210th ECS Meeting, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells 6 Editor(s): T. Fuller, C. Bock, S. Cleghorn, H. Gasteiger, T. Jarvi, M. Mathias, M. Murthy, T. Nguyen, V. Ramani, E. Stuve, T. Zawodzinski., High temperature protonic conductors (HTPC) were fabricated by solid-state sintering and by melt processing by laser-heated floating zone method. Several families of compositions were selected: SrCe1-xMxO3- (with M: Zr and Y; x = 0.1, 0.2), BaCe1-xMxO3- (with Yb, Ca and Y; x = 0.05, 0.2), Sr3Ca1.18Nb1.82O9-, SrZr0.8Y0.2O3- and SrTi0.95Sc0.05O3-. Their mechanical properties have been studied by compression test at constant load and constant compression rate.As produced directionally solidified materials presented a unique microstructure consisting of strongly textured cells with an intercellular phase. The cells have a crystalline Pnma structure. The relation between the processing, dopants, microstructure and mechanical properties is discussed. Understanding of plasticity is important to determine the ultimate component performance, and because its direct relationship to processing and transport. The high temperature mechanical properties of melt grown crystals are superior to the mechanical properties of polycrystals.

En este trabajo se ha realizado un estudio del sistema eutectico Al 2 O 3 /Y 3 Al 5 O 12 crecido a distintas velocidades mediante solidificacion direccional de zona flotante por calentamiento con laser. El analisis microestructural se ha realizado mediante Microscopia Electronica de Barrido (MEB) y de Transmision (MET), tanto en muestras tras el procesado con laser como en muestras sometidas a los distintos tratamientos termo-mecanicos. El estudio de las propiedades mecanicas se ha llevado a cabo mediante ensayos a velocidad de deformacion constante y ensayos de fluencia -a carga de compresion constantepara diversos valores de tension y de temperatura en atmosfera de aire. De los resultados obtenidos se deduce que la resistencia esta intimamente asociada a la microestructura de las muestras, la cual depende de la velocidad de solidificacion. La presencia de dislocaciones es clara a altas velocidades de deformacion, observandose los mecanismos activos de deformacion tipicos de la alumina monocristalinas, como son la formacion de bucles de dislocaciones para evitar obstaculos. Los valores de los exponentes de tension y la energia de activacion sugieren un comportamiento difusional para bajas velocidades de deformacion, a las que no se observan dislocaciones.

Este proyecto de investigacion ha sido financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia con cargo a los proyectos MAT2000-1533-C01 y C02 y MAT2003-06085-C03-01.

La aparición del presente número coincide con la publicación en el Boletín Oficial del Estado de la Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa (LOMCE). La mencionada ley se aprueba tras un proceso de debate abierto por el Ministerio de Educación en el mes de septiembre del pasado año 2012 y al que ADIDE-Federación aportó el documento aprobado por la Junta directiva Federal, reunida en Alcalá de Henares en octubre de dicho año, durante la celebración del XII Congreso estatal de inspectores de educación. Debe añadirse que la mayor parte de las aportaciones efectuadas no fueron tenidas en cuenta ni, en consecuencia, incorporadas al texto del proyecto de ley. A lo largo del último cuatrimestre del presente año 2013 se ha producido la acelerada tramitación parlamentaria del proyecto de ley siendo rechazadas la práctica totalidad de las enmiendas presentadas por los grupos de la oposición. El resultado ha sido la aprobación de la ley con el único apoyo del grupo parlamentario popular que sustenta al gobierno. Es importante destacar esta cuestión porque, pese a que nadie puede cuestionar la legalidad y la legitimidad para la aprobación de una ley educativa por una mayoría absoluta del Congreso de los diputados, no puede olvidarse que la LOMCE nace con el triste record de ser la única ley educativa de todas las promulgadas desde la vigente Constitución de 1978 que se aprueba con el apoyo de un solo partido político. El hecho señalado anteriormente podría considerarse anecdótico si no hubiera venido precedido de dos huelgas generales en la enseñanza pública con una elevada participación de profesorado, padres y madres y alumnado, y que en la segunda de las jornadas contó con la participación de los sindicatos de la enseñanza concertada. Si a este rechazo de la comunidad escolar añadimos el acuerdo adoptado por todas las fuerzas políticas de la oposición de derogar la ley en el momento en que el Partido Popular pierda la mayoría absoluta en el Congreso de los Diputados, podemos concluir que la LOMCE nace con evidentes debilidades de cara a su posterior desarrollo y aplicación que, no lo olvidemos, deberán llevar a cabo las comunidades autónomas. Respecto al contenido de la ley hay que señalar que, estrictamente, no estamos ante una nueva ley educativa sino ante la modificación de la Ley Orgánica de Educación de 2006 (LOE) según dispone el artículo único de la nueva ley en el que se modifican numerosos artículos y disposiciones de la citada ley de 2006. Según se indica en el preámbulo el objetivo de la nueva ley es la transformación del sistema educativo a través de un esfuerzo sostenido y constante para el que se demanda la colaboración permanente y respetuosa de todos los actores entre los que destaca a las Administraciones educativas. Partir de un diagnóstico acertado de la situación de nuestro sistema educativo es clave para plantearse la mejora del mismo a través de una nueva ley. Hay un amplio consenso sobre las fortalezas y debilidades de nuestro sistema educativo. Entre las primeras destacan las elevadas tasas de escolarización en educación infantil y en educación obligatoria, el alto nivel de equidad entre la población escolar que garantiza nuestro sistema y el buen nivel en titulaciones universitarias respecto al total de población. Entre las debilidades destacan, especialmente, el elevado nivel de fracaso escolar, las altas tasas de abandono escolar temprano y el bajo nivel en excelencia escolar y en titulaciones de formación profesional de grado medio y superior en relación a la media de los países de la Unión Europea. Sin embargo, lo que ha trascendido a la opinión pública del debate sobre la LOMCE no ha sido, precisamente, como consolidar nuestras fortalezas o mejorar los puntos débiles de nuestro sistema escolar, sino las cuestiones más ideologizadas y que más dividen a la sociedad como son la enseñanza de la religión en la escuela, con la vuelta a la regulación de la Ley General de Educación de 1970 (LGE) que incluye una materia alternativa a la religión, la financiación pública de los centros que segregan al alumnado por razón de sexo o la enseñanza del castellano en Cataluña, que, sin perjuicio, de que pudiera requerir algún tipo de ajuste en la atención a las demandas de algunas familias, no estaba generando especiales problemas en el ya dilatado periodo de tiempo de su aplicación. Resulta cuando menos discutible que la implantación de una reválida al finalizar la enseñanza obligatoria vaya a contribuir a mejorar las tasas de fracaso escolar y de abandono temprano del sistema educativo. Confiemos en que el desarrollo normativo de la ley transite con mayor sosiego que el proceso seguido hasta su aprobación y que la cooperación que se demanda a las Administraciones educativas no sea una apelación retórica sino que se plasme, realmente, en una firme voluntad de diálogo y de llegar a acuerdos. No debe olvidarse que, prácticamente, la mitad de la población de nuestro país está gobernada en sus comunidades autónomas por partidos distintos al que detenta el gobierno de la nación y que ninguno de esos partidos ha dado su apoyo al nuevo texto legislativo. La grave crisis económica, social y política que padece la sociedad española requiere altura de miras por parte de nuestras autoridades y responsables políticos. Nadie debe olvidar la importancia de la educación en el nivel de desarrollo de cualquier sociedad y que del buen funcionamiento de nuestro sistema educativo depende no sólo el futuro de nuestros jóvenes, sino el progreso económico y social y el bienestar de nuestro país.

Given the evidence provided by Longstaff (1995), and Pena, Rubio and Serna (1999) a serious candidate to explain the pronounced pattern of volatility estimates across exercise prices might be related to liquidity costs. Using all calls and puts transacted between 16:00 and 16:45 on the Spanish IBEX-35 index futures from January 1994 to October 1998 we extend previous papers to study the influence of liquidity costs, as proxied by the relative bid-ask spread, on the pricing of options. Surprisingly, alternative parametric option pricing models incorporating the bid-ask spread seem to perform poorly relative to Black-Scholes.

The radial forearm free flap has been popular in many areas of reconstructive surgery. Despite the many attributes of this flap in maxillofacial reconstruction, one of the disadvantages has been the morbidity of the donor site. Allogeneic cultured epidermis has been successfully applied on large second degree burns and on chronic leg ulcers. Autologous human keratinocytes and fibroblast equivalents can be cultured in-vitro from a small skin sample in order to produce a sufficient amount of epithelial autografts to cover the large defects of third-degree burn wounds. Interestingly, transplanted cultured epidermis retains characteristics of the original donor site. We report a case of a patient who underwent skin replacement by cultured epithelial autograft after wound breakdown occurred in the forearm donor site during the early postoperative period. This method could represent an auspicious alternative to conventional grafting methods for forearm free flap reconstruction. To the best of our knowledge, skin replacement by cultured epithelial autografts in this region has not been extensively described in the literature.

We build a Real Options model to assess the importance of private provision and the impact of expropriation risk on investment timing, investment volumes, governmental costs and social welfare. We consider two types of businesses (essential and non essential businesses) and two stages (operating and investment opportunities), and answer questions regarding three main topics: the firm's reaction to expropriation risk, the government drivers to expropriate, and the costs this generates in terms of welfare. We find that the firm makes suboptimal investment decisions. When we endogenize the reputational costs of expropriation, results show that the decision of the government regarding the level of political risk will largely depend on the type of business. However, in terms of welfare it is never optimal to expropriate.